19 September 2023 | Kimchi & Kombucha: A Fermentation Workshop

Date: 19 September 2023

Time: 6pm-8:30pm

Location: Wendy's house and fermentation headquarters, 94 Oban St. Wadestown

Are you keen to incorporate more fermented foods into your diet but think making them is too difficult or don’t know where to start? Are you curious to learn ways to increase the good bacteria in your gut and support your overall health and well-being without spending too much money? Perhaps you’ve been buying kimchi for $14 a jar at the supermarket and wondering if you could save money making it yourself. Or you have a garden surplus of cabbages and want some ideas of how to preserve your vegetables. Or you've been buying kombucha and wondering if you could save money and make your own unique flavours by fermenting at home?

Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of creating healthy, effervescent beverages and probiotic vegetables; it’s surprisingly simple and easy to get started. And eating fermented foods and drinks is great for overall health and well-being! Join us for a delicious workshop learning the basics of fermenting. You will be given samples of Savour kombuchas and kimchi to try on arrival. After a brief introduction, you'll make your own kombucha infused with your flavour of preference. You’ll also taste and learn how to make water kefir and Jun, two other delicious fermented beverages.  We will touch on why ferments are important for gut health and learn how the gut plays a role in everything from regulating our immune system and weight, to influencing our moods. 

All levels are welcome as this is a basic workshop suitable for total beginner.

We'll offer organic herbs from our garden to infuse your kombuchas with beautiful flavours and medicinal properties.

Once the kombucha is underway, we'll make a traditional Baechu (cabbage) kimchi.

In this workshop you will learn how to make:

        * Kombucha  (including caffeine-free floral and fruit kombuchas such as the rose/hibiscus kombucha that we serve complimentary in some of our cooking classes)

       * Jun (with a green tea and honey base)

       *  Water Kefir 

       * Baechu cabbage kimchi  

You'll learn how to follow safe hygiene practices, recognize a healthy brew, know when things have gone wrong and how to fix problems.

You'll learn how to adapt your recipe to variables like room temperature, and what to do when you want to put your ferments on hold for a while to go away (or because you just need a break!).

Some preparation is required for this class: you will need to purchase a cabbage and brine it the night before the workshop. Wendy will send instructions--don't worry, it's easy! All other ingredients will be supplied on the day of the workshop.

You will leave this workshop with:

* your own Kombucha starter culture and first brew (SCOBY VALUE $25)

* recipes and instructions so you are ready and confident to do your second brew at home

*your own jar of kimchi and instructions for how to ferment, store and enjoy

* a new appreciation for the role that fermented foods and drinks can play in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

PLEASE BRING TWO 2-LITRE JARS WITH HINGED LIDS FOR YOUR FERMENTS

Your tutor, Dr. Wendy Nolan Joyce, is a passionate fermenter who grew up with Polish grandparents who loved their sauerkraut. She started making kombucha when a friend gave her a pet SCOBY and she discovered how delicious, easy and inexpensive it is to make at home. Now she loves her fermented foods and drinks so much that she eats kimchi everyday and even takes her scobies on road trips when she has to go out of town! Wendy makes water kefir, kombucha and jun to serve at her cooking workshops as a non-alcoholic/low alcohol beverage option, and also makes kimchi from vegetables harvested from her Wellington-home organic vegee patch. She began organising fermentation workshops in 2018 with Jo Kempton of Happy Belly Ferments, continued to teach kimchi workshops with Inma Fuentes of Best Kept Health, ran a kimchi workshop for the charity Seeds to Feeds in 2023 and has run a few independent kimchi and fermented drinks workshops since then. She has also co-taught popular sourdough classes with Kearin of the Wellington Bakehouse.